I started reading this book with great interest. Donald Rothwell, a professor of international law with prolific publications, has written a new monograph on islands – an important and developing subject of international law. The author states that “this study aims to consider areas of international law where islands are the dominant object and where distinctive legal principles, doctrines, and practices regarding islands have developed” (p. 1).

Chapter 1 deals with geography and covers areas such as bays, coastlines, continental margins, continental shelves, deltas, low-tide elevations, ocean floors, reefs, rocks, sea beds, and submarine areas, together with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) (1982), and state practices and decisions of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). Chapter 2 discusses the significance of artificial islands in modern times. Chapter 3 focuses on territoriality. Chapter 4 discusses status and statehood and places islands into seven groups based on international law (p. 85): (1) Independent States (such as Mauritius, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Ireland, and Timor-Leste); (2) Constituent Units of a State (such as Tasmania and Canada); (3) Free Association (such as Cook Islands and Niue with New Zealand; and the Marshall Islands and Palau with the US); (4) Integration (under Article 73 of the UN Charter and UNGA Resolution 1541 (XV), such as Greenland and The Faroe Islands); (5) UN Listed Non-Self-Governing Terrotories (NSGT)s; (6) French, UK, and US Ocean Territories; and (7) Sui Generis Categories (such as Taiwan and islands next to China). Chapter 5 deals with twenty-two UN-recognised archipelagic States (p. 119) and, importantly, Table 5.1 provides a clear picture of their legislations and proclamations. Chapter 6 examines the dependent archipelagos that have a special status in international law, noting that not all archipelagos are part of an archipelagic State, for example, the Hawaiian Islands (US) and the Aaland Islands (Finland). Chapter 7 notes that juridical islands enjoy the same maritime entitlements as States which include baselines, historic waters, bays, internal waters, territorial sea, contiguous zone, continental shelf, and exclusive economic zone.

Chapter 8 focuses on UNCLOS III’s provisions regarding maritime boundary delimitation, decisions of international courts and tribunals regarding maritime delimitation, and territorial questions. Although islands have a significant impact on maritime boundary delimitation, it is not possible to prescribe a clear set of “rules” (p. 213). State practices having developed the agreed delimitation methodology (p. 216). Chapter 9 delves into human rights, with a particular emphasis on self-determination and small island developing states (SIDS). Despite not receiving special attention in international human rights, islands and islanders have gradually gained importance in international law. Chapter 10 deals with issues related to sea-level rise (SLR), and climate change.

The final chapter asks: “Is there a regime of islands in international law?” (p. 253) and observes that international law and the law of the sea do not define a regime for islands. However, islands are now a central focus in international law, receiving unprecedented attention and driving continued legal development across various contexts (p. 261) due to geographic, political, economic, trade, artificial islands, sea level rise, and climate change issues. Research in this field is limited. Thus, by conducting an in-depth investigation, this book will serve as a valuable tool for those studying and researching islands in the context of international law.